WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Vice President was asked if she thought was a fascist, and she replied 鈥淵es, I do.鈥� She subsequently called him the same thing herself, saying voters don't want 鈥渁 president of the United States who admires dictators and is a fascist.鈥�
But what exactly is a fascist? And does the meaning of the word shift when viewed through a historical or political prism 鈥� especially so close to the end of a fraught presidential race?
Here's a closer look:
What is fascism?
An authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is often associated with the far right and characterized by a dictatorial leader who uses military forces to help suppress political and civil opposition.
History's two most famous fascists were Nazi chief Adolf Hitler in Germany and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Known as Il Duce, or 鈥渢he duke,鈥� Mussolini headed the National Fascist Party, which was symbolized by an eagle clutching a fasces 鈥� a bundle of rods with an axe among them.
At Mussolini's urging, in October 1922, thousands of 鈥淏lackshirts,鈥� or 鈥渟quadristi,鈥� made up an armed fascist militia that marched on Rome, vowing to seize power. Hitler's Nazis similarly relied on a militia, known as the 鈥淏rownshirts.鈥� Both men eventually imposed single-party rule and encouraged violence in the streets. They used soldiers, but also fomented civilian unrest that pit loyalists against political opponents and larger swaths of everyday society.
Hitler and Mussolini censored the press and issued sophisticated propaganda. They played up racist fears and manipulated not just their active supporters but everyday citizens.
Today, the term fascism has taken on a looser political definition and is often evoked as a catch-all for efforts to spread oppression and racism 鈥� as well as to decry dictators or leaders who embrace totalitarian tactics.
It is not just the left that has used the term, denoucning a push rightward in the U.S. and in many parts of the world. Some conservatives imposed during the as 鈥渇ascist.鈥�
What are other historical examples of fascism?
Hitler and Mussolini are its two biggest names, but it gets murkier from there.
Does military dictator Augusto Pinochet's 17-year, ironfisted rule in Chile qualify? What about Indonesian strongman Suharto or Spain's Francisco Franco? Were the regimes of Ferenc Sz谩lasi in Hungary and Brazil's Pl铆nio Salgado fascist? Where does American neo-Nazi leader David Duke fit?
Indeed, critics sometimes describe modern U.S. extremist groups 鈥� including movements that have , like the 鈥� as fascists or neo-fascists. Those labels may be more steeped in political ideology than clear historical parallels.
Why is Harris calling Trump a fascist?
The vice president has long criticized Trump as being mentally unstable and not a true believer in, or defender of, the nation's founding democratic principles.
She notes that Trump suggested he'd to target political opponents, including people he has decried as the 鈥渆nemy from within.鈥� The former president has long talked about attacking his enemies and that he would be their 鈥渞etribution.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 talking about the American people. He鈥檚 talking about journalists, judges, nonpartisan election officials,鈥� Harris said Wednesday night at a CNN town hall.
Trump has against television networks and news organizations for coverage he deems unfavorable. And, when now-President Joe Biden challenged him during a 2020 debate to denounce the Proud Boys, Trump : 鈥淧roud Boys, stand back and stand by.鈥�
A mob of pro-Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, seeking to overturn Trump's loss to Biden after Trump gave a speech propagating falsehoods about the election and to 鈥渇ight like hell.鈥� Among the people imprisoned in connection with Jan. 6 was the , accused of orchestrating a failed plot to keep Trump in power.
Harris has been building toward the characterization. During on Oct. 15, radio host Charlamagne Tha God, said Trump was increasingly embracing fascism and asked, "Why can鈥檛 we just say it?鈥� 鈥淵es, we can say that,鈥� Harris replied.
Then, Trump's longest-serving former chief of staff, retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, that the former president meets the definition of a fascist. He said Trump, while in office, suggested that Hitler 鈥渄id some good things," and that Trump valued personal loyalty above the Constitution.
Trump's campaign has accused Kelly of lying and brushed aside Harris' criticism, with spokesperson Karoline Leavitt responding, 鈥淜amala will say anything to distract from her open border invasion and record high inflation.鈥� Trump has described Jan. 6 as a 鈥渄ay of love.鈥�
How do experts on fascism view Trump?
They are divided. Some do not see Trump as meeting the classic historical definition of a fascist, but rather increasingly moving toward politics that have fascist tendencies.
David Kertzer, a Brown University professor and Italian historian, said he was 鈥渁 little horrified鈥� to hear Harris call Trump a fascist given the term's 鈥渉istorical resonance.鈥� He said there are some similarities, including 鈥渕ass movement, a cult of the strongman.鈥� He noted that Trump sometimes juts out his chin, though he isn't prone to tearing off his shirt and bare his chest, like Mussolini did.
Kertzer said that fascism involved "a one-party state, a banishing of all opposition newspapers and jailing people who disagreed,鈥� and that, while Trump has talked about jailing opponents, he's not moved toward embracing other key facets of the movement.
鈥淭here are certain echoes, but in terms of turning the Republican Party into a one-party state, that seems rather farfetched at the moment,鈥� said Kertzer, author of 鈥淭he Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe.鈥�
David Clay Large, a senior fellow at the University of California, Berkeley鈥檚 Institute of European Studies, said 鈥渢he alarm bells now going off may be somewhat overblown."
鈥淥ur democratic institutions, however beleaguered, remain much stronger than those of the European nations that turned fascist in the 鈥�20s and 鈥�30s,鈥� Large said. Still, he added, there would be 鈥渁 real danger to these institutions鈥� in a second Trump presidential term.
The rise of far-right parties across Europe and Trump鈥檚 control of the GOP, Large said, carves out 鈥渁n entirely new situation: The center cannot hold as it once did.鈥�
Add to that mix social media, which in the digital age mirrors the use of propaganda, amping up emotions and division, he said.
"Where everyone鈥檚 an expert, we鈥檝e lost respect for factuality, objectivity, and actual expert opinion,鈥� Large said.
鈥�- Kellman reported from London.
Will Weissert And Laurie Kellman, The Associated Press
